


the doctor is in(sane)

by lipstickgremlin



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Canon Nonbinary Characters, Creepy Fluff, Implied Medical Experimentation, Mad Science, Other, Unresolved Sexual Tension, personal space is nonexistent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 18:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15102602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lipstickgremlin/pseuds/lipstickgremlin
Summary: Personal space is not something that Quaestor Valdemar understands, clearly. Or they're just refusing to acknowledge it. The apprentice doesn't really care about which, right now.(or, valdemar and the apprentice have sexual tension during the dungeon tour. unethical medical practices are referenced, personal space is ignored, everyone goes home feeling kinda weird about themselves.)





	the doctor is in(sane)

**Author's Note:**

> listen someone had to write it okay  
> sorry julien ur super cute but valdemar has Shorp Teefs and i'm weak for that  
> title stolen from angelspit lyrics  
> apprentice is nonbinary, and dear god i have used "they" so many times writing this goddamn fic  
> next time i write enbyprentice i'm using a different pronoun gdi  
> i didn't send this through a beta reader because i'm an idiot

The apprentice was used to people giving off mixed signals. In between Asra's secretiveness and Julien's melodramatic ways, they had sort of accepted that this was just how their life was going to be. But at least with those two, their underlying motivations made sense. Right now, the apprentice was stuck dealing with someone who, uh, was either threatening or flirting with them. Maybe both. They really couldn't tell. 

Quaestor Valdemar was by far the most disturbing person that the apprentice had met recently. At least the other courtiers hadn't stuck around to loom and creep and make ominous comments. And that wasn't even getting into the touching. There was an awful lot of touching happening here, and the apprentice really didn't know what to make of it. They were embarrassed to admit that the first time Valdemar had invaded their personal space, (by pinning them to a bookshelf, who did that???) they had made an extremely undignified squeaking noise of shock.

The constant touching was almost as bad as the disturbing sentences that kept coming out of Valdemar's mouth at making it /extremely/ hard to search for clues in the dungeon. The horrifying dungeon full of torture devices and flesh eating beetles. The apprentice prayed inside their head that they would find a lead soon, and be able to get out of the frankly awful place.  Even as the apprentice thought that, they felt Valdemar drape themselves over their shoulders. 

"It really is too bad," they said, directly in the apprentice's ear, "that there's nothing to feed the beetles with. It's a lovely show, you'd appreciate it."

"I, uh, what?" the apprentice stuttered out. Were they blushing? Oh no, they realized, they were absolutely blushing. They desperately hoped that Valdemar hadn't noticed. That was about the only way this moment could get more awkward. 

Unfortunately, they had most definitely noticed. The apprentice could see their sharp-toothed grin out of the corner of their eye. Abruptly, Valdemar straightened up, tugging the apprentice against their chest as they did. One arm wrapped around the apprentice's shoulders, holding them still, and the other hand pressed to the apprentice's forehead. The apprentice froze up. They couldn’t help it. It was impossible to predict what Valdemar was going to do next. Seriously, why all the touching? Was it a threat? There was probably no one who could answer that.

"You look like you might be coming down with a case of the nerves," they said, and looked rather smug. The apprentice tried very hard to not acknowledge them, which was very hard, especially as the hand touching their forehead moved to join the other one wrapped around their shoulders.

"Touch of hysteria?" Valdemar continued on, "You know, we have _excellent_ treatments for that.” The apprentice squeaked in response. There was really no good way to respond to that. Was, was the doctor implying what they thought was being implied here? That definitely crossed the line into being a proposition, right? Before they could reply, Valdemar continued on.

“There should still be some sedatives around here,” they said, “I never used them, but some of the more, ah, _squeamish_ of our number swore by them. Why? What did you think I meant?” The apprentice absolutely did not want to admit what they had thought Valdemar meant.  
            

“Did Julien ever use the sedatives?” they asked, in a flustered attempt to change the subject to something more useful and less embarrassing. Luckily for them, it looked like it worked.

“Oh, constantly,” Valdemar began, “He kept running out, it was very inconvenient for everyone.” The apprentice wanted to breath a sigh of relief, but they were still being hugged to the doctor’s chest, and that was incredibly awkward. They were pretty sure that if they looked in a mirror, their face would be red as a tomato. Why hadn’t Valdemar let go? The apprentice genuinely couldn’t figure out the motivation here. Honestly, the worst part was that the more the mad doctor invaded their personal space, the less it upset them.

In fact, when Valdemar let go to shoo them out of the dungeons, they were almost disappointed, and they were absolutely disappointed in themselves for that reaction. They’d gone into the dungeons to find proof to save Julien, not to gain an awkward crush on probably the most horrifying person they’d run into recently! They were about to leave, when they heard Valdemar speak one more time.  
“By the way, if you ever feel like visiting the dungeons again, you’re _perfectly_ welcome to. I’m sure we can think of some, ah, _alternative treatments_ for that anxiety of yours.” The apprentice’s blush came back in full force, and Valdemar grinned like a cat that had caught an entire bush of canaries.

That night, the apprentice dreamed of dungeons, and restraints, and a sharp-toothed smile. None of that, they decided when they awake, was particularly good for anxiety. However, they couldn’t deny that there was absolutely something inside of them that wanted to visit the dungeons once again. As ill advised as the idea was, they stored it for future reference.


End file.
